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ALDI AND LIDL have said they are removing all non-essential ‘middle aisle’ products in line with Covid-19 advice from the government.
The government guidelines state that under Level 5, retailers that sell a mix of essential and non-essential goods are required to “make arrangements for the separation” of the non-essential section.
As a result, supermarkets like Tesco said sections with items such as clothes and toys have been closed off to customers in line with this guidance.
Lidl and Aldi have now both confirmed they will stop selling non-essential ‘middle aisle’ products advertised each week.
In a statement today, Aldi said it has removed all middle aisle non-essential products currently in store and will postpone the future sale of these products for the time being.
The company said this decision follows “further clarification from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation regarding the classification of essential and non-essential retail”.
‘Essential’ special buys such as Christmas food, drinks and DIY products will be sold as normal in the stores.
Managing director of the Aldi Group Niall O’Connor said: “We are working hard to reschedule these fantastic products once restrictions are lifted to ensure everyone can get everything they need for Christmas in Aldi.”
Lidl Ireland also confirmed on Twitter yesterday that it won’t be selling any non-essential middle aisle items under Level 5 restrictions.
It said these items will still appear in the weekly leaflets for a few weeks as they are printed in advance, but the items will not be sold in shops.
“We apologise to customers who are left disappointed by this,” the shop said on Twitter.
These items include Christmas decorations, casual clothing and toys. It added that it is “in the process of removing from sale any residual stock of previous non-essential promotions”.
Tesco has also closed off most of its clothing section and areas with toys and home entertainment.
“We’re adhering to Government guidelines and have closed our F&F clothing, home entertainment and toys units across the country,” a Tesco spokesperson said.
“We will continue to offer a very limited range of essential clothing items only for customers for example, baby clothing.”
Earlier this week in Wales, Tesco apologised after wrongly suggesting that sanitary products were non-essential and could not be sold in stores due to new lockdown measures in place in the country.
The supermarket later said the tweet was sent “by mistake” and said the relevant aisles had been closed off after a break-in at the store.
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ISS is visible several times every year from Ireland
Download the NASA app and go to missions / sighting opportunities and it will tell you exactly where in the sky to watch and the correct time & date.
The ISS passes over Ireland hundreds of times a year. The journal is abit late with this story, for the past week it’s passed directly over us twice every evening .
ISS SPOTTER is a great App if anyone is interested. Tells you when, tells where from and the direction. Makes it very easy to watch out and track it.
22nd, 6:26 pm and 8:04 pm
23rd. 7:15pm
24th 6:26 pm
26th. 6:25pm
Clear sky is only requirement.
Eyesight is also a requirement
You can also get email alerts set up for a certain town/area, I set it up and I’ve seen the space station many times overhead!! All we need is a few clear nights :)
Despite the couple of red thumbs, that made me laugh a wee bit Eddie
how do you set that up Arianna??…..
I can’t remember exactly how I did it,it was a while ago, but this is the email address I receive them from so I’m sure if you google spot the station or go to the nasa website you should be able to find the link, sorry I can’t be of more help! spotthestation@mail.nasa.gov
Found the link….. http://spotthestation.nasa.gov
I miss Chris Hadfield, I only copped onto him for his last 3 months but what a guy, made science so interesting
I read his book and watched Space Oddity on YouTube. Does that count as a sighting?
Would it be half as bright if there were only three astronauts on board?
“The aircraft. . . .”? It’s not an aircraft, it’s a spacecraft. I know this isn’t National Geographic, and a lot of people are no longer bothered about punctuation, spelling or grammar, but it would be good if we could preserve the meanings of at least some words. Then we might have a chance of understanding each other.
Welcome to the journal – where we strive to get things wrong.
They’ve fixed it on the sly –
None of these idiots will notice they said
Well, at least they fixed it, I guess that’s progress of a sort.
“The aircraft will be visible over Ireland for the next four nights”
Sorry for the pedantry but it’s not an aircraft =p
Awesome sight. Science at its best.
I tracked it with a powerful telescope on its last pass over Ireland. I could even read the letters on its underside!
G -A -R -D -A
Report your sighting… Why? We know where it’s gonna be and be seen from.
Oh yes so astronomy ireland can pound you with emails……
Hope I get abducted and probed! #YOLO
It’s not an aircraft. It’s a spacecraft. There is no air up there.
Eh – iv seen it loads of times.
It does this a few times a year
Err, don’t harsh the scientific dudes’ buzz – they get ratty!:-D
Been there.
Nice spot.
Great views.
Aircraft??!! Come on guys in fairness. SPACECRAFT.
This has been passing us around tea time for a couple of weeks already.
Looks like a standard phone box to me!
Seems like a strange story? It’s visible on average 2 or 3 times a week – you can get notifications for your area from spotthestation (.com possibly? Either Google it or search for it on NASA’s website)
have your say